Learner and Scholar:
A learner and scholar is one that strives to find profound meaning in and out of the classroom. Effective learners are able to be open-minded to new ideas and be accepting of those ideas that differ from their own. Learners and scholars are able to think critically and challenge their own ideas in order to progress their thinking. Scholars are able to master the skills that come along with being a learner. As one cannot exist without the other, I believe that you cannot be a scholar without being a learner.
Evidence #1: MACI 313 History Project
In MACI 313, Teaching History/Social Studies for Diverse Learners, we had a final project presentation where we were to discuss an issue or event in California state history. In this presentation, we were required to conduct multiple interviews with individuals who were around during the time of the presentation topic or were well experienced with the ideas being presented. Likewise, for this presentation, we had to find artifacts that represented our topic through a virtual museum. Therefore, my group and I decided to do our final presentation on California History: Black Women and Civil Rights.
In this presentation, the main idea was to “Identify the Black Women who have led civil rights movements from the 1960s to today and discuss their leadership for change.” In order for us to successfully talk about this important topic, we had to do some research on some influential Black women in California’s History who made an impact on the Civil Rights movement. While doing the research for this project, I learned a lot about influential Black women in California history such as Kamala Harris. I also learned a lot about the importance of the Civil Rights movement and the impact that movement had on other movements such as the Black Lives Matter Movement.
During the summer of 2020, right before I took MACI 313, Black Lives Matter protests ensued all over the world after the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. In this presentation, I talked about the death of Breonna Taylor. I talked about how her death revolutionized the phrase “Say Her Name”. I also talked about how the phrase “Say Her Name”, strives to get people to recognize Breonna and the many others like her as people instead of just another fatality at the hands of police. Because of this project, I became more educated on the struggles that Black individuals face on a day-to-day basis. Furthermore, the research that I did for this presentation allowed me to become a learner and scholar in my personal life. In this presentation, I had to put myself in someone else’s shoes in order to understand certain struggles that I will never have to face. Likewise, in my own life, I learned how I could do my part to challenge the ideas around me and understand my privilege.
Evidence #2: MACI 312 Teaching Philosophy
I took MACI 312, Contextual Teaching and Learning of Science, during the fall of my senior year. In this class, our first assignment was to write about our teaching philosophy while using a science educator’s lens. Our final assignment was to revise this same teaching philosophy adding what we learned that semester. Over the course of my time in the IES program, I have revised my teaching philosophy many times. As the years have gone on, I have updated or changed my teaching philosophy at least two times a year. This is because in the IES program, every class layers on new information that changes our ideas and beliefs about being an effective educator.
In this MACI 312 assignment, I said, “my teaching philosophy is that I shall provide goals for my students that foster diverse learning methods, provide a positive and safe learning space, and help students become leaders in and out of the classroom”. I would add to this statement by including ideas about how I can utilize effective classroom management skills. I can do this by using Social Emotional Learning techniques that will foster emotionally aware and empathic learners. Although on the other hand, there are things from this teaching philosophy assignment that I still stand by and will continue to emphasize. For example, “I believe that in order to have a diverse and pluralistic learning environment, I will need to provide differentiated assessments and accommodations for all my students. There is no such thing as a “one size fits all” classroom where all students learn the exact same way”. This is a goal that I have always had for my classroom and how I intend to teach my future students.
As a learner, I am able to internalize new ideas I learn in class and apply them to real-world situations. Likewise, as a scholar, I am able to apply new ideas to future assignments, like my teaching philosophy, and be able to alter it as I grow. Every time I have rewritten my teaching philosophy, I have challenged the ideas already put in place. I do this by elaborating on them or completely changing them to match the new information I have recently learned.
Evidence #3: IES 405 Literature Review
Through the writing of my Literature Review in IES 405, I was able to showcase how I have grown as a learner and scholar. At the beginning of last semester in IES 405, we were asked to hone in on a topic that we would like to base our senior thesis on. I knew I wanted to write mine on foster youth but, I did not know exactly what aspect of foster youth I wanted to focus on. Through research, I was able to refine my broad topic into something more specific. I decided to write my thesis on the factors that affect a foster youth’s academic performance.
When conducting research for my thesis I learned that there are many factors that affect the academic performance of foster youth. In my literature review, I talk about academic factors such as school attendance and transferring, the emotional toll the system has on foster youth, and the perspectives of parents and teachers of youth in foster care. Most of the research I conducted was qualitative interviews from different perspectives of people involved in the system. Likewise, the majority of my research was empirical or theoretical articles. Because I had such a variety of articles in my literature review, I was able to learn how to analyze different types of academic research. This literature review taught me how to take all the different aspects of the articles and unify them.
After turning in a rough draft of my literature review and receiving feedback from Dr. Wood, I made some minor changes to the structure of the essay. I felt a sense of accomplishment that I only needed to fix minor formatting errors. Throughout my time at Chapman, I have always needed to make sure that the content of my writing was cohesive and effectively explained what I was trying to convey. This was the first time that I wrote something and I felt proud of the work I had done. I believe this combined with the content of my literature review, demonstrates my success as a learner and scholar.
Evidence #4: IES 206 Educational Creed
In IES 206, Schools in Society, the majority of the course covered different philosophers’ educational pedagogies or their educational creeds. I took IES 206 during the fall of my sophomore year in 2018. In this class, I learned about different educational practices within classrooms. A lot of IES 206 consisted of analyzing different educational practices and then figuring out which ones we resonate with the most. At the end of the semester, we wrote our own educational creed just like many of the different philosophers we learned about. In my educational creed, I discussed the many aspects of others’ educational philosophies. I talked about my ideal teaching style and the goals I have for the educational system in the future.
In my educational creed, I talked about my ideal classroom and the role I think school plays in society. I also talked about the inequalities within our school system and the importance of multicultural education. I said “Likewise, the norms of society and what defines upper, middle, and lower class determines many aspects of how a school runs. For example, students who come from low-income homes are often placed in schools that reflect that”. Moreover, in IES 206 we examined culturally responsive pedagogy. With culturally responsive pedagogy in mind, I was able to use past experiences from my education to come up with my own beliefs about the educational system. These beliefs can be seen in my educational creed as I promote student-centered learning interdisciplinary teaching.
Through this educational creed, I was able to develop my own pedagogy and learn how to make evidence-based decisions that support student learning in and out of the classroom. While the ideas and beliefs I discussed in this educational creed are good, they are also underdeveloped. This project was the first time I knew what it meant to be a learner and scholar. While I have many assignments since this one that now accurately reflect who I want to be as an educator, this was the first time I was able to apply what I had learned in class to what I actually believe in. Since then, I have had many opportunities to make connections between the information I learned about and what resonates with me personally. Without this class, I would not be able to find those connections between the content I am learning, and the beliefs that inspire me to be an effective educator.